Anita Blake

If you love a good mystery and a touch of the supernatural, Anita Blake may just be a great book series for you.

Anita Blake may be small and young, but vampires call her the Executioner. Anita Blake is an Animator, who raises the dead for a living, as well as a Vampire Executioner and U.S. Marshal for the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. She lives in St. Louis, were not only do wereanimals and vampires walk the streets, they have rights as citizens.

Necromancer: Anita is one of the most powerful animators operating commercially. She can raise zombies, sense the dead, raise vampires in daytime, sense vampires and lycanthropes, estimate their power level, the approximate age of vampires, has good night vision and can resist (at least partially) mental influence from vampires.

Combat Training: Anita has a black belt in Judo as of the first book. She works out regularly with her best friend Ronnie "to be able to out run the bad guys" when she needs to. She credits Edward for much of her training in weapons, primarily handguns and knives.

Supernatural Experience: Anita holds a bachelor's degree in preternatural biology and is a trained vampire executioner. She also has a well-worn two-semester background in comparative religion. These courses often told her useful tidbits about other cultures/mythologies, and throughout the series she learns vastly more about vampires, lycanthropes, and other preternatural creatures. RPIT relies on her for information about a wide variety of supernatural entities.

The Anita Blake series spans twenty novels so far. This is the complete list in chronological order. I do highly suggest reading the novels in order since the time-line for the story flows so closely from one book to the next.

1 Guilty Pleasures
2 The Laughing Corpse
3 Circus of the Damned
4 The Lunatic Cafe
5 Bloody Bones
6 The Killing Dance
7 Burnt Offerings
8 Blue Moon
9 Obsidian Butterfly
10 Narcissus In Chains
11 Cerulean Sins
12 Incubus Dreams
13 Micah
14 Danse Macabre
15 The Harlequin
16 Blood Noir
17 Skin Trade
18 Flirt
19 Bullet
20 Hit List

God, No!

Not only can the man rant, he can write.

From the larger, louder half of the world-famous magic duo Penn & Teller comes a scathingly funny reinterpretation of The Ten Commandments. They are The Penn Commandments, and they reveal one outrageous and opinionated atheist's experience in the world. In this rollicking yet honest account of a godless existence, Penn takes readers on a roller coaster of exploration and flips conventional religious wisdom on its ear to reveal that doubt, skepticism, and wonder -- all signs of a general feeling of disbelief -- are to be celebrated and cherished, rather than suppressed. And he tells some pretty damn funny stories along the way. From performing blockbuster shows on the Vegas Strip to the adventures of fatherhood, from an on-going dialogue with proselytizers of the Christian Right to the joys of sex while scuba diving, Jillette's self-created Decalogue invites his reader on a journey of discovery that is equal parts wise and wisecracking.

Praise for God, No!

"People who say that libertarians have no heart or atheists have no soul need to read this book. Because Penn Jillette has a lot of both." -- MATT STONE and TREY PARKER, creators of South Park and the award-winning Broadway musical The Book of Mormon

"There are few people in the country who question more boldly, brashly, and bravely than my friend Penn Jillette. This book is funny, provocative, and profane. But is it right? God, no!" --GLENN BECK

"This planet has yielded exactly one mutual friend for Glenn Beck and me and that friend has written a brilliant book called God, No! Penn reveals 'the big secret of magic,' tells you why tattoos are perfect expressions of atheism and exactly what to eat when you know you're going to vomit later." --LAWRENCE O'DONNELL

"Penn Jillette is a twenty-first-century Lord of Misrule: big, boisterously anarchic, funny, Rabelaisian, impossible and unique. There isn't--couldn't be--better not be--anybody like him."  --RICHARD DAWKINS, bestselling author of The Greatest Show on Earth and The God Delusion

I love listening to Penn Jillette. To anyone interested check out Penn's Sunday School http://pennsundayschool.com/

Penn is just Awesome.

Be ready to be entertained. Penn's irreverent unfiltered humor is exposed for all to see. Some of the stories in this book include sex, and there is a lot of profanity, so if you find that offensive, this probably isn't the book for you.

I would tell everyone to read this book and check out his new show Penn's Sunday School http://pennsundayschool.com/

This book gets 5 out of 5 stars.... go check it out.

Apraxia

Apraxia of speech, also known as verbal apraxia or dyspraxia, is a speech disorder in which a child has trouble saying what he or she wants to say correctly and consistently.

Children with developmental apraxia of speech generally understand language much better than they are able to use words to express themselves.

Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder. For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech. Apraxia of speech is sometimes called verbal apraxia, developmental apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. No matter what name is used, the most important concept is the root word "praxis." Praxis means planned movement. To some degree or another, a child with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech has difficulty programming and planning speech movements. Apraxia of speech is a specific speech disorder.

The act of speech begins with an intention to communicate. Next, an idea forms, outlining what the speaker wants to say. The words for the desired message are put in the correct order, using the correct grammar. Each of the words are comprised of a specific sequence of sounds (also called phonemes)and syllables that must be ordered together. All of this information is translated from an idea and information about order of sounds into a series of highly coordinated motor movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, and soft palate.

The brain must tell the muscles of these “articulators” the exact order and timing of movements so that the words in the message are properly articulated. Finally, the muscles must work properly with enough strength and muscle tone to perform the movements needed for speech.

In typically developing speech, children make word attempts and get feedback from others and from their own internal systems regarding how “well” the words they produced matched the ones that they wanted to produce. Children use this information the next time they attempt the words and essentially are able to “learn from experience.” Usually once syllables and words are spoken repeatedly, the speech motor act becomes automatic. Speech motor plans and programs are stored in the brain and can be accessed effortlessly when they are needed. Children with apraxia of speech have difficulty in this aspect of speech. It is believed that children with CAS may not be able to form or access speech motor plans and programs or that these plans and programs are faulty for some reason.

Many therapists believe that sign language is beneficial for children who have difficulty being understood. They often recommend that children attempt to say the words they are signing to practice making the necessary movements with their mouths.

People with more extreme cases of acquired apraxia may also benefit from sign language. Or they may use assistive electronic devices, including computers that can be used to produce words and sentences.

Very few studies have been done to determine the relative effectiveness of various treatment approaches for childhood apraxia of speech.


Where can I get more Information about Childhood Apraxia of Speech?

Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America (CASANA)
1151 Freeport Road, #243
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
E-mail helpdesk@apraxia-kids.org
Website: www.apraxia-kids.org

Birth Defect Research for Children, Inc. (BDRC)
930 Woodcock Road, Suite 225
Orlando, FL 32803
E-mail staff@birthdefects.org
Website: www.birthdefects.org

CHERAB Foundation
P.O. Box 8524
Port St. Lucie, FL 34952
E-mail help@cherab.org
Website: www.cherab.org
www.speechville.com

A Devil and Her Love Song

Reads R to L (Japanese Style)

Meet Maria Kawai--she's gorgeous and whip-smart, a girl who seems to have it all. But when she unleashes her sharp tongue, it's no wonder some consider her to be the very devil Maria's difficult ways even get her kicked out of an elite school, but this particular fall may actually turn out to be her saving grace...

Maria's frank nature gains her more enemies at her new school, but her angelic singing voice inadvertently catches the attention of Yusuke Kanda and Shin Meguro. Can these boys mend her hardened heart, or will they just end up getting scorched?

I love reading mangas. My all time favorite is the Death Note Series.

This one is good. There are more volumes to this story available in Japanese that will most likely be translated and released as time goes on.

I give this Manga 4 stars out of 5


I got this book for free through Goodreads First read.

Dante Valentine series

Dante Valentine series by Lilith Saintcrow

Necromancer. Bounty hunter. Killer.

Dante Valentine has been all three in her life. But in the beginning, she was a Necromancer for hire. And while she was choosy about her jobs, there were just some she couldn't turn down. Like when the Devil showed up at the door and offered her a deal. Her life - in exchange for the capture and elimination of a renegade demon. But how do you kill something that can't die?

Dante Valentine is a bounty hunter and a Necromance - she can invoke the spirits of the dead briefly for the purpose of communication. She's the best in the world at what she does, which puts her at the top of Lucifer's list when he needs a rogue demon tracked down. Lucifer sends his Right Hand, the demon Japhrimel, to bring Dante to Hell for the purpose of hiring her on for the job. Dante has a smart mouth, a little too much bravado, and a troubled past. She's also honorable, loves her friends, and can't see the sense in discriminating against a demon - or letting anyone else do so. The consequences of that shape the rest of her life.

These five books remind me a little bit of Hamilton's Anita Blake series. The stories are tense, beautifully plotted and fast-paced. Dante makes things so much harder than they have to be. She even realizes she's doing it but she just can't seem to help it sometimes. This series also benefits from a firm overall plan with a definite end that ties everything together. It's not an endless "The Adventures of Dante" sort of thing. The five books flow together beautifully when read as a single narrative.

It's not your typical Urban Fantasy story with lots of clichées and meaningless romance (not that I don't enjoy those storys too, from time to time). It's the story itself that matters here and the characters and their development. Their feelings, their hopes, their despair, their pain and their relationships/friendship.

Plot. Counterplot. Betrayal. Intrigue. When you’re working for the Devil, it’s all par for the course. You just have to live with it. Right?
Wrong. When you’re Danny Valentine and the Devil double-crosses you one too many times, there’s only one thing to do.
Fight back. No matter how hopeless it is. No matter how suicidal it is. No matter how far the game is rigged in the Devil’s favor.
Welcome to Hell.

The books in the set are Working for the Devil, Dead Man Rising, The Devil's Right Hand, Saint City Sinners, and To Hell and Back.

Article 5

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

US has abandoned the Bill of Rights and become an extremist religious country. In short, America has become the ‘Christian’ version of Afghanistan as it was under Taliban rule.

U.S. government authorized the Federal Bureau of Reformation, better known as the Moral Militia, to arrest any citizen in violation of the stringent “Moral Statutes.” Ember's mom is arrested for violating Article 5 (Article 5 - Children are considered valid citizens only when conceived by a married man and wife.) and Ember is sent to a girls' rehab where rule-breakers are punished with violence and those who try to escape are shot.

Article 5 is set in a future America where citizens have little to no rights, every religion other than Christianity is forbidden, girls and boys cannot date, pregnancy outside of a marriage is against the law and 'immoral' books and materials are banned.  A world where being born from an unwed mother can get you killed - or worse.

There wasn't a dull moment in this book.

This book seems like a scary look at what reality could be if some had their way. What could happen if those who want to legislate morality totally took over power.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars

The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer

Abby Goodwin has always covered for her sister, Maya. but now Maya has been accused of murder, and Abby's not sure she'll be able to cover for her sister anymore. Abby helps Maya escape. But when Abby begins investigating the death, she find that you can't trust anyone, not even the people you think you know.

Abby Goodwin is sure her sister Maya isn't a murderer. But her parents don't agree. Her friends don't agree. And the cops definitely don't agree. Maya is a drop-out, a stoner, a girl who's obsessed with her tutor, Jefferson Andrews...until he ends up dead. Maya runs away, and leaves Abby following the trail of clues. Each piece of evidence points to Maya, but it also appears that Jefferson had secrets of his own. And enemies. Like his brother, who Abby becomes involved with...until he falls under suspicion. Is Abby getting closer to finding the true murderer? Or is someone leading her down a twisted false path?

This was a shocking story that made you second guess everyone and I had a great time reading this a figuring everything out. This was the perfect murder mystery that gave you a different angle becuase it wasn't the police's or the detective's perspective, instead it was a supect's sister. We find out many people had motive for killing Jefferson Andrews; Maya, Maya and Abby's father, Jefferson's brother, Abby's best friend, one of Jefferson's many female companions, Rose his official girlfriend, drug dealers, even the owner of the convenience store near the high school.

I would recommend people read this book. It is really good.